Impact of dynamic greenspace exposure on symptomatology in individuals with schizophrenia

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 9; p. e0238498
• Main Authors: Henson, Philip, Pearson, John F, Keshavan, Matcheri, Torous, John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 03-09-2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Accuracy; Adult; Anxiety; Biology and Life Sciences; Cities; Cognitive ability; Computer and Information Sciences; Data recovery; Earth Sciences; Ecosystem; Engineering and Technology; Environmental effects; Exposure; Female; Geographic information systems; Global positioning systems; GPS; Health care; Health policy; Henson, John; Humans; Illnesses; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Parks, Recreational - trends; Pearson, John; Phenotyping; Plants; Psychiatry; Psychosis; Quality; Research and Analysis Methods; Residence Characteristics - statistics & numerical data; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - therapy; Schizophrenic Psychology; Self Report; Smartphones; Social Sciences; Sports and Recreational Facilities; Supervision; Target recognition; Vegetation; Cities; United States > US; Massachusetts
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238498

There are currently many tools available for capturing and defining the context of one's environment. Digital phenotyping, the use of technology and sensors to capture moment-to-moment behavior, has shown potential in quantifying the lived experience of mental illness and in the identification of individualized targets related to recovery. Environmental data suggests that greenspace may have a restorative capacity on mental health. In this paper, we explore the relationship of greenspace derived from geolocation with self-reported symptomatology from individuals with schizophrenia as well as healthy controls. Individuals with schizophrenia had less exposure to greenspace than controls, but their exposure demonstrated a dosage effect: high greenspace environments were associated with lower symptoms for anxiety (Cohen's d = -0.70), depression (d = -0.97), and psychosis (d = -0.94), whereas effect sizes for healthy controls were all negligible or small (d < 0.38). The notion that greenspace may have a more pronounced effect on individuals with mental illness presents both potential areas for recovery as well as implications for health care policy, especially in cities with a broad range of greenspace environments.